Anatole Boutant, is a bartender at Baranaan in Paris. He makes two cocktails for us, one with Rye Whiskey and Fernet Branca, and the second with Rum and Becherovka.
Anatole introduce yourself
I’m Anatole Boutant, I’m 22 years old and a bartender at Baranaan in Paris. Whilst studying sociology I was a waiter and bar-back at La Conserverie. I remember when I started there, I didn’t understand why they had to refresh the glass before serving a cocktail. I began to feel this was actually what I wanted to do in life, but my colleagues pushed me to finish my diploma. After I finished my diploma I stayed in this bar for two years, before joining Baranaan just after their soft launch. There’s been a lot to create and set up, so it’s been a real challenge for me. What I now see is that the bar is a real field for sociology and leading in the bar has made me confident which is important to me. I am the one who runs the party and it’s very rewarding to craft a drink and instantly see the clients satisfaction. Perhaps that’s why in the beginning I worked in nightclubs, where I learnt a lot about speed and customer relationship management. Working in a cocktail bar just gives me the creativity on top of all those other things.
The classic you want to show us
Toronto
60ml of Rye Whiskey Rittenhouse 100 Proof
3 Dashes of Angustura
1 Barspoon Sugar
15ml of Carpano Classico Antica Formula
2 Barspoons of Fernet Branca
2 Dashes of Fire & Damnation Bitters
The bar or party you dream of
I’d like to open a simple, affordable place that can hold around 50 people. Personally I think in Paris the drinks are too expensive. You can make sharp cocktails that are not too expensive. There should be a middle ground between high level expensive cocktail bars and bars where you drink beers or low level spirits. My bar would be vintage bistro style with a modern touch, kind of like what Mido did at Café Moderne but rougher and more simplistic. I think I would also stay open after 2am, because it’s a totally different mindset where you can do stuff differently with a different audience which I like. I’d have a DJ between the two bartenders, each one with his station, so everyone mixes together. The DJ would run the party along with the bartenders.
When I go out to drink it’s with friends who finish late as well or with the team. We don’t care about the places we go, we just want to disconnect. I do like to go to cocktail bars when I don’t work, to discover new stuff.
The spirit you like the most
Now that I’m here in this bar, I’d say Xeres with the oxydation and the mixes you can make with different types from Manzanilla to Pedro Jimenez. I love this traditional spirit and it needs more recognition. It allows people to discover spirits they don’t usually like as it pushes the flavour in another direction and gives drinks a more winey taste.
What makes a good cocktail and which product do you want to highlight at this moment
A cocktail which matches with the context and the clients mindset. So a bartender that can make a good cocktail needs to listen to his customer and respect his tastes and guide him.
I love to work with liqueur like Mastica or Benedictine. It brings a tart side to a cocktail and links all the ingredients without being too acidic.
The signature cocktail you want to show us
Spicy Cinnamon
20ml of Lime
20ml Spicy Cinnamon Syrup
30ml of Amrut Two Indies Rum
10ml of Becherovka
10ml of Rain Nephew Rum
Where do you think we need to go to interview another bartender?
You need to go in Toulouse to meet Nicolas at L’heure du Singe which just opened and recently I met Hugo from the Fox Trot in Lisbon.
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